Two Tokyo Raiders remain

The last few surviving crewmen display the Congressional award.

cincinnati» Although most of the “Doolittle Tokyo Raiders” beat long odds 73 years ago, surviving antiaircraft fire, crashed planes and vengeful Japanese soldiers, time has been taking its own toll.

Since their 70th anniversary reunion at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, three more Raiders have died, two of them this year.

Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, 99, and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, 93, are the last of the original 80 crew men from the 16 B-25 bombers that attacked Japan, boosting American morale and stunning Japan less than five months after its attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II.

They returned to the museum in Ohio for a Saturday event ceremony to present the Raiders’ Congressional Gold Medal for display.

“It just happens that way, I guess,” Thatcher, of Missoula, Mont., said of being one of the last survivors.

“Something’s just got to give,” said Cole, a Dayton native who lives in Comfort, Texas.

The museum’s director, retired Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, accepted the medal, the highest honor Congress can give a civilian, for them in Washington on Wednesday. In a video message, Cole said it was an honor to receive the medal “on behalf of 78 fallen Raiders who we proudly served with on that famous raid.”

The latest Raider to fall was Lt. Col. Robert Hite, who died March 29 at age 95 at a Nashville, Tenn., nursing facility. Hite was also the last of the eight Raiders who were captured by Japanese soldiers.

Thatcher, who said he uses a cane and walker but otherwise is “getting around OK,” was looking forward to events including reunions with family members of the other Raiders to share stories and remembrances.